Paper

It's the day after Christmas and all through the house, so much wrapping paper is spilling and suffocating my spouse. Here in Los Angeles, as in much of the rest of the United States, we recycle. Today our blue bins overflow with the paper and cardboard memory of our Christmas of abundance and good cheer. Across our city, and in many other distant cities, the bins of many book buyers overflow with the ubiquitous boxes and plastic cushions with which Amazon.com ships its products.

Apple has announced its iTunes Best of 2012 winners, and its two top apps include a movie special effects editor for the iPhone and a sketching app for the iPad. Action Movie FX took top honors for the iPhone category. The app is free and lets users shoot short scenes that are then enhanced with special effects such as falling rocks and vehicles and various types of missile attacks. Additional special effects, such as tornadoes and alien attacks, can be purchased within the app. PHOTOS: Apple, from Foxconn uprising to a Mini roll-out For the iPad, Paper by FiftyThree was named app of the year.

Farrow & Ball, the high-end British paint and wallpaper company, has a different way of adding glamour to your holiday house: a new, limited edition paper table runner. Forget about ironing last year's cloth runner. Farrow & Ball's paper simply unrolls on your table. The colors -- grays called Plummet and Calluna, plus festive silver -- are elegant complements to silver or gold table settings. And when you're done with dinner, perhaps you can use the paper to wrap gifts? The piece is inspired by Farrow & Ball's Ringwold wallpaper design.

After he was done serving himself seconds, Fernando Godenez turned left to his classmate and extended his arms out, holding the bowl of meatballs and marinara in one hand, a serving spoon in the other. " Quieres ?" the 3-year-old asked in Spanish, the physical effort a monument to his improving motor skills, a sign that he's becoming more comfortable with other kids. "In his way, he's communicating, he's coming out of his shell," said Rashmi Kothari, one of Fernando's teachers.

Rolando McClain's days with the Oakland Raiders appear to be numbered. And that number could very well be zero. The linebacker has been informed that he will be released Thursday, according to an ESPN report that cites an unnamed source. McClain is said to have announced the news on his Facebook page Wednesday, but his post appears to have been removed. "Officially no longer an Oakland Raider!!" the Facebook post said, according to the San Jose Mercury News. The paper said the eighth overall pick from 2010 added, "Well technically I am. But I'm mentally done.

Gabriel Aubry sports a wicked-looking shiner, marring his male-model visage, in recent photos made available by Los Angeles Superior Court. Aubry, Halle Berry's ex and the father of her 4-year-old daughter, Nahla, says the black eye wasn't all he suffered in a confrontation Thanksgiving night with Berry's fiance, actor Olivier Martinez. Aubry claims multiple bruises, cuts that required stitching, a broken rib and being subjected to a death threat by Martinez. "He continued to punch me at least two or three times, kicked me in the ribs … and took my head in his hands and slammed it to the concrete driveway," Aubry said in court papers filed Monday, according to L.A. Now.  Aubry's filing seeks a restraining order against Martinez.

I was treading water at an ad agency in Toronto when I spied an unusual ad in the morning paper. It was an announcement from the U.S. government recruiting able-bodied Canadians to apply for a lottery to enter the U.S. legally with a resident alien, or green, card. I took the bait and signed up. Fast-forward two years. I arrived home from work on a miserable winter afternoon and found a large envelope in my mailbox. The U.S. Department of Immigration was inviting me to live in the United States!

We've all received them - cheesy holiday greeting cards and party invites with messages like, "Ho ho hope you have a very merry Christmas. " Pre-written mass-produced cards are getting passed over in favor of a slew of new options, both digital and paper, created online via websites or apps. The expanded offerings come as card companies gear up for the busiest time of the year. Planning on throwing a holiday party? Evite last month launched Postmark, the West Hollywood company's first new offering since its 1998 launch.

Give thanks for the nearly new Nikes, left abandoned beneath the 101 Freeway overpass. They were just M.J.'s size. He had needed shoes, but had no money to buy them. Give thanks for the tote bag, holding the Vienna sausages that Sam hands M.J. on Hollywood Boulevard. Sam is 4 1/2 months pregnant with her fifth child - their third together - and by April, when the baby is due, she and M.J. , both 26, hope to have a roof over their heads. Give thanks especially for My Friend's Place, provider of the sausages and so much more.